Prep for the Week Issue 1825

Prep for the Week Issue Number 1825 – 22 April 2016

In this week’s issue…

Headmaster's Blog and Commendations SATIPS Exhibition opens this weekend!

St George's Day Dragon Hunt Kingfishers, Lower, Middle and Upper School news R360 Rugby Camps Calendar and Notices

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Headmaster's Blog Dear Parents Immediately following on from the impetus offered by our staff training last week, I am proud to say that our first training session for Year 7 Peer Mentors took place this week. Designed to offer skills to a group of children who have volunteered to undertake this responsible role, I feel that, in time, this will be another facet of our support for all children at The Prep. I am grateful to Mrs Reid and Mrs Samuel who have driven this initiative forward. Another excellent experience for Year 7 took place on Thursday evening, when they acted as guides for our visitors to the “11+ Experience”. This event is designed to help those in Year 4, either at The Prep or at other schools, make considered decisions about progressing through Cheltenham College. These young guides, accompanied by ex-Prep students, were outstanding in the manner in which they engaged with our visitors.

Year 7 are now in the process of deciding whether to apply for a Position of Responsibility, which they will hold in Year 8. Gone are the days when these positions were picked by the Headmaster and staff in a subjective manner. Instead, the children submit applications which are scrutinised and, in the case of those wishing to be Head Boy and Head Girl, a gentle trial of public speaking is planned. The Headmaster does have a role to play in the process though, deciding on the balance between inclusion and the integrity of the existing positions of responsibility.

Too many positions and a few are excluded and the positions devalued. Too few and too much talent remains untapped. For those who are not successful in their applications, I state sincerely that they still have a role to play as leaders. To summarise this week’s offering, I would like to emphasise the importance of Years 7 and 8 in all preparatory schools in beginning the process of developing the young adult.

Further to my staffing update last week, I have additional news to share. We offer our congratulations to Miss Olivia Sheldon, who has been offered the post of Deputy Head at St Gregory's School in Cheltenham. Mrs Terry Batty has also decided to leave us in order to spend more time with her family and their dog! I'm sure you'll join me in wishing the very best to both, who will be missed enormously.

Mr Jon Whybrow

SATIPS Exhibition opens this weekend!

More than 50 prep schools nationally.

Over 400 pieces of work.

All age ranges from 2 to 13 years.

Come and see artwork from Cheltenham Prep pupils from Nursery through to Year 8 in amongst this incredible display of creativity and talent!

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SATIPS National Prep Art Exhibition 2016 Friday 22 April, 16.00 - 18.00: Prep Preview for pupils, staff and parents Sunday 24 April, 10.00 - 16.00: Private View for artists and families

Cheltenham College Preparatory School www.cheltenhamcollege.org T: 01242 522697 E: satips@cheltenhamcollege.org Thirlestaine Road, Cheltenham, GL53 7AB

Prep for The Week Issue Number 1825 22 April 2016

Enjoy a fantastic display of creativity and talent from ar tists across the country, from Nurs ery through to Year 8!

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Headmaster's Commendations Javier Berrow for an excellent Spanish presentation about Madrid Poppy Watkins for excellent DT project work Oscar Mann for producing a detailed cricket information pack which he shared with the class Archie McNeill for his excellent independent project on Catalonia Victor Larsen for a superb holiday diary with interesting and exciting vocabulary Charles Hellens for a superb piece of independent project work on the European Union Ben Urbanovsky and Eddie Buttress for excellent warmth and hospitality shown to a Taster Day visitor Oscar Mann for demonstrating fantastic commitment and effort in producing a detailed cricket information pack in his own time, which he shared with the class Monty Graveney for being chosen from 123,400 entries to go through to Round 2 of the Radio 2 500 Words Short Story Competition 2016 Emily Morton, Kamila Aldongar and Faith Urbanovsky for jointly rewriting Joseph as Josie & The Amazing Technicolored Dreamgoat

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Kingfishers This week, Year 2 once again impressed Kingfishers children and staff with their superb art skills, taking on the cubist style of Pablo Picasso with aplomb. After researching a range of Picasso's portraits and trying to decipher how the faces were constructed, the children soon moved on to creating their own artwork. The fear of actually starting was the biggest hurdle, but after some encouragement the children began by drawing their profiles before adding in the different features and a background.

Colours reflected the children’s personalities and moods, with oil pastels and watercolours helping to highlight specific areas of the piece. It was fantastic to see the children work with such enthusiasm, trying not to be concerned with making mistakes but taking some risks. Next week…

Modigliani combined with Florence Nightingale!

Watch this space.

Kingfishers Year 1 and Year 2 Notice: If you would like your child to attend Saturday morning clubs, please sign up on your child’s classroom door before 09.00 Friday.

The Kingfisher’s PSE lessons have focused on the theme of 'making mistakes' and how we learn from them.

The children tried to decide whether a problem could be solved by using their ‘thinking’ brain or their ‘emotional’ brain. Using their favourite Meg and Mog book, the children were able to see how rationalising a problem, rather than becoming upset, would help them to design a solution.

In groups, the children discussed possible reactions to a situation: Meg’s spell had gone wrong and accidentally turned her friends into mice! The children wrote down what Meg might say if she used her emotional brain, and also her thinking brain.

The emotional reactions included: 'Oh no, I will be thrown out of Magic School’ or 'I will never be invited to spell parties anymore!’

Head of Pre-Prep, Mrs Rachael Buttress, said how impressed she was to hear the children design rational, thinking responses: 'Some of the answers given included possible solutions to the problem, or positive responses – such as trying the spell again or feeding the mice with cheese!'

The real challenge for the children will be to try and apply this in their everyday lives at school. When things go wrong, it’s easy to be upset, but with support and encouragement, the children’s thinking brains will spring into action!

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We're on a DRAGON HUNT Boys and girls in Reception went on the hunt for a dragon, in celebration of St George's Day. After getting dressed up as knights and princesses, the children enjoyed lessons in 'Knight School'. There they learned how to use their hand-made and painted shields to protect themselves from the fiery breath of the mighty dragon!

The knights and princesses then explore the school grounds, looking for the long, red, scaly tail of the dragon... and they found it! After chasing the (poor) dragon around the playing fields a few times, everyone enjoyed a scone with jam and cream on top.

"We love observing our national traditions whilst having lots of fun exploring the generous grounds at The Prep," said Mrs Rachael Buttress. "Not forgetting the squirty cream with jam and scones - what a wonderful tradition to share!"

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Lower School The Year 8 scholars planned and taught a lesson to three Year 4 classes on 'States of Matter'. The children melted chocolate and dipped strawberries whilst studying melting!

They also made Ooblek, a non-Newtonian fluid that acts like a liquid when pressed gently and a solid when hit. The scholars did an amazing job.

“Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.”

Here in Lower School we will be celebrating the great bard’s death on April 23 1616, this Friday.

We will be having a series of fun activities that could range from quiz’s or crossword puzzles to story B boards or even some drama! Here's an example: In the forest, amongst the trees, Oberon, King of the fairies, and his wife, Queen Titania, are having a fierce row about who should have the human child that the Queen has stolen. Oberon asks his servant, Puck, to pick a magic flower which makes people fall in love with the first thing they see.

Do you know the answers to some of these questions ?

Both the Year 8 and Year 4 pupils really enjoyed the lesson, in spite of (or perhaps because of ) the mess created!

1. When was Shakespeare born?

2. What was the name of the first theatre he bought ?

3. As a young man what was his job ?

4. What was the name of his wife ?

Some of us may be quoting Shakespearian texts as though we too were living in the times of Shylock and Portia or Prospero .

“Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.”

In addition to our literary heritage, Year 4 are also preparing for their trip to Bristol to visit the SS Great Britain. They will be exploring the dry dock, taking a tour of the museum and, culminating in a tour of the great ship itself to see how this ship was designed by our engineering hero, Mr Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

How did he manage to design a vessel to travel at speed, all the way to Australia?

"Can one desire too much of a good thing?"

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Middle and Upper School The Drama Department is delighted to announce that the following pupils have successfully passed their Drama LAMDA exams: Teddy Bennett and Toby Krauer - Acting Duo Grade 1 (Merit) Jasper Norman and Jamie Reid - Acting Duo Grade 1 (Merit) Isaac Tagg and Joseph Tagg - Acting Duo Grade 1 (Merit) Minette Tombleson and Annie Carter - Acting Duo Grade 1 (Merit) Annaliese Goff and Isabella Reid - Acting Duo Grade 1 (Merit) Isabella England - Acting Solo Grade 1 (Merit) Arabella Finch - Acting Solo Grade 5 (Distinction)

Peer Mentoring "When I signed up for Peer Mentoring I was really exited about learning something new. On Tuesday afternoon we had our first session. We did two activities and they were both based on reading other people's feelings. First we got into groups of five and three of those were handed a slip of paper.

On the paper were instructions to act in a particular manner so the remaining two could read the emotions they were showing. I found this task very entertaining.

I’m really looking forward to more sessions, where I hope to learn more about dealing with feelings and how to help other people."

By Rory Jenkins, Year 7

Year 7 are starting to think about their choices and preferences for Positions of Responsibility and Prefects next year. The positions available are: Head Girl, Head Boy, Head of Boarding (boy and girl), Heads of Houses, Captains of Sport, Leader of the Orchestra, Head Chorister and Chapel Monitors.

In the Upper School Assembly on Tuesday, Head of Upper School, Mrs Sarah Reid, talked about the qualities needed to be a Prefect or hold a Position of Responsibility, and what sort of things pupils might want to include in their letter of application. These letters are a key part of the whole process of prefect appointment, and parents are encouraged to discuss at home how your son or daughter is approaching writing their letter. The last two years have seen some really excellent letters, and they have been written with passion and dedication. The letter-writing process itself is important, too, as we have asked boys and girls to submit a handwritten letter, rather than an email.

In addition, all staff get input in nominating boys and girls and after Half Term, all Year 7 get the opportunity to be a prefect for the day. It’s vital as well that pupils new to The Prep understand that we have an equal playing field – everyone is considered on merit. Nor is perfection a prerequisite!

We are very much looking forward to this term’s process of supporting our boys and girls and reading their letters.

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Tracey Corderoy visits Kingfishers!

'Meeting the author was so cool I almost fell off my chair!' Theo, Year 1 Local children’s author, Tracey Corderoy, brought her famous stories to life when visiting children at Kingfishers this week.

'It wasn’t amazing, it was really, really amazing!' - Sophia, Reception

'I liked it when she showed us the book with the lonely dog and the mouse, who became friends.'

- Chloe, Reception 'She told us all about stories and she was really nice!' - Oscar, Year 1

'I liked making a spider and bouncing it around!' - Star, Year 1 'I liked counting the 15 puppies, it was fun!'

- Lola, Year 1 'My favourite bit was when Sam and Shifty played a funny game.' - Dameli, Year 1 Prep for The Week Issue Number 1825 22 April 2016

The author, who appeared at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2015, spent an afternoon introducing her stories to children aged 3-7, who listened to lively readings and answered questions about Tracey’s quirky characters. Tracey’s work includes picture books for first readers, as well as young fiction stories, including the hugely successful Hubble Bubble and Grunt Grouch series.

“I’ve had a thoroughly wonderful afternoon at Cheltenham Prep,” Tracey Corderoy said whilst she signed copies of her book, Shifty McGrifty and Slippery Sam, a picture adventure about two robber-dogs. “The children have been engaged and lots of fun, and really open to all the magic of the stories – that’s what makes my job totally worthwhile!”

Tracey’s visit was part of a variety of activities and visits that The Prep hosts throughout the year, designed to spark creativity and inspire an interest in reading and writing in early years pupils.

“Hearing from Tracey today has really sparked the imagination of our youngest authors and illustrators, who are really chuffed to take away signed copies of their favourite stories”, said Mrs Rachael Buttress, Head of Kingfishers Pre-Prep. “I’m sure there are some future Tracey Corderoys in the class today!”

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Girls' Sports Girls' Tennis TEAM OPPOSITION DATE SCORE RESULT 1sts – 4 Pairs St Hugh’s 20 April 4 – 11 (1 draw) LOST 2nds – 3 Pairs St Hugh’s 20 April 2 – 6 (1 draw) LOST 3rds – 4 Pairs St Hugh’s 20 April 2 – 9 (5 draws) LOST 4ths – 4 Pairs St Hugh’s 20 April 8 – 8 DREW Mix – 3 Pairs Prior Park 20 April 2 – 7 LOST

Girls' Rounders TEAM OPPOSITION DATE SCORE RESULT U13 St Hugh’s 20 April 2.5 – 17 LOST U11 A St Edwards 20 April 18.5 – 11 WON U11 B St Edwards 20 April 17 – 10.5 WON 18.5 – 10.5 WON U10 A St Edwards 20 April U10 B Prior Park A 20 April 10 – 14 LOST 10.5 – 10 WON U9 A St Edwards 20 April U9 B St Edwards 20 April 4.5 – 10 LOST

s and s, fixture witter! w e n r o F s on T follow u , s e t a d up repgirls @cheltp

Team of the Week – U11A Rounders A solid win to start the season! With some good fielding on display from our team, The Prep team had a good understanding of the rules which helped us make good decisions and resulted in getting quite a few of our opposition out at first and second post. There is some work to do with our batting; we must develop more power and consistency as we did not score many full rounders, but an encouraging start.

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Boys' Sports Under 10 A v St Edward’s: won by 69 runs

For n update ews, fixtures a s, follo w us o nd n @chelt prep_b Twitter! oys

The boys enjoyed a second win in succession with a solid performance in our first home match of the season.

Having elected to bat first, we got away to a brisk start, although the understandably slow nature of the pitch always made scoring a challenge. We lost wickets at regular intervals through poor communication or shot selection but nevertheless managed to maintain a scoring rate of over a run a ball. Almost all our batsmen got in but no one individual went on to make the one big score which would have taken us much further than our total of 123.

As might be expected this early in the season, our bowlers found it hard to find the perfect line and length but nevertheless managed to remove the opposition’s top five batsmen for just 15 runs. It was excellent to see almost all the team having the opportunity to bowl and the remaining wickets were spread around the boys, despite a late flurry of runs.

Whilst stiffer challenges lie ahead, the team has quickly settled into the winning habit and we look forward to our trip to Llandaff Cathedral School on Saturday, where we will look to build on the good progress we have made to date.

Congratulations to six of the P7 boys who have been invited to join Gloucestershire District and County teams for the summer, they are: Gloucestershire U14s Monty Graveney Gloucestershire U12s Ollie Elliott (vice-captain) Districts Teams U12s Ross Broughton-Johnson Eddie Buttress Finlay Hurst Sam Baines Prep for The Week Issue Number 1825 22 April 2016

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All changes and additions to the School Calendar appear in pink.

Calendar

Sunday 24 April 2016

National Prep Schools Art Exhibition (Assembly Hall) 13:30 Boarders' Mountain Boarding Trip (Full and Regular Flexi-Boarders Only) Monday 25 April 2016, Week 3 25 April - 1 May 12:00 Kingfishers Parents' Lunch 14:00 Year 2 Internal Swimming Gala Pupils' Informal Concert (Lake House) 16:30 Tuesday 26 April 2016 08:30 Year 4 Trip to SS Great Britain 09:00 Year 6 Geography Field Trip to Weston-super-Mare 09:45 Year 1 Workshop: A Musical Journey (Kingfishers Hall) Parents welcome 11:00 Year 2 Workshop: A Musical Journey (Kingfishers Hall). Parents welcome Kingfishers Parents' Lunch 12:00 16:15 County Cricket Round 2 v Pates (H): 1st XI.Pick up 18.30 Wednesday 27 April 2016 12:45 Departure for Cricket v Beaudesert (A): 1st XI, 4th XI, U11A XI, Wanderers XI. Start 14:15. Pick

up 18:30 12:45 Departure for Cricket v Clifton (A): 3rd XI. Start 14:15. Pick up 18:30 13:00 Departure for Tennis v Beaudesert (A): U13 6 pairs. Start 14:30. Pick up 17:00 13:00 Departure for Rounders v Beaudesert (A): U9A, U9B. Start 14:30. Pick up 17:00 14:15 Cricket v Beaudesert (H): 2nd XI, U11B XI, U10A XI, U10B XI. Pick up 17:30 14:15 Internal Cricket Match (H): 3rd XI, 5th XI. Pick up 17:00 14:15 Cricket v Pinewood (H): 5th XI Pick up 17:30 14:30 Tennis v Beaudesert (H): U13 16 pairs. Pick up 16:15 14:30 Rounders v Beaudesert (H): U11A, U11B, U10A, U10B. Pick up 16:15 Thursday 28 April 2016 12:00 Kingfishers Parents' Lunch Friday 29 April 2016

House Maths Challenge 11:30 Music Scholars' visit to CBSO Concert (Birmingham) 12:00 Kingfishers Parents' Lunch Chapel (parents welcome) 14:15 Exeat begins for children in Kingfishers: no after school care, activities or tea 15:30 16:00 Exeat begins for children in Lower School: no after school care, activities or tea 16:15 Exeat begins for children in Middle and Upper School: no after school care, activities or tea 16:15 French Trip Meeting for Year 7 parents (Assembly Hall)

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INVITE YOU TO JOIN IN AN AFTERNOON OF FUN

SUNDAY JUNE

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13:00 -17:00

HEADMASTER'S XI CRICKET MATCH DOUBLES TENNIS TOURNAMENT NETBALL MINITOURNAMENT With a BBQ at 15:30 To take part in the Tennis, email Sally-Ann Kent on s.kent@cheltenhamcollege.org If would like to participate in the Cricket, contact Tim Buttress on tim.buttress@hotmail.com If you are interested in playing Netball, call Amy Mills on 07507 847012

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NOTICES Happy Birthday to the following pupils this week!

Zara Skilleter Michael Warr Hannah Davies Eme Hesketh Annie Finan

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Happy St George's Day!

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